EDITORIAL: Trade, outreach helps region, nation

By Enterprise editorial staff

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, September 3, 2015

Peter Huntsman, president of the Hunstman Corp., said something this week during a visit by U.S. Rep. Randy Weber that is occasionally being drowned out these days: Foreign trade is good for America. There's a big world out there, and we need to embrace it, not run from it.

Huntsman understands that because his companies sell products all over the world. Its Port Neches complex manufactures a variety of chemicals made from liquids derived from natural gas. It has become Huntsman's largest production facility in employment and tonnage, employing 600 workers and 500 contractors with an annual payroll of $85 million. Without robust trade, a lot of those jobs go away.

There's nothing new about the benefits of foreign trade, the linking of a willing seller and buyer. It helps both parties - and most importantly consumers, who get the products they want for lower prices. But it's campaign season, and some politicians are dredging up old myths.

Donald Trump, who now says he's a Republican, spouts nonsense about Mexico "sending" us rapists and other criminals. The U.S. does have a problem with illegal immigration, but those people are coming here for jobs because there aren't enough in their countries.

Trump wants to build a wall across our southern border, an idea so expensive and illogical that no serious person should consider it. Another GOP presidential candidate, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, gets even crazier by suggesting a wall across our northern border. Let's hope the one-upsmanship stops there.

Earlier this year House Republicans killed a reauthorization of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, previously a small, obscure entity that covers its expenses with the fees it collects.

Weber, whose district includes many ports and petrochemical plants, pointedly noted that "for us to be able to have a good trade agreement in effect is huge for the Huntsman companies."

Voters should support candidates in both parties who want more free and fair trade.

The future will belong to countries that recognize this irreversible and beneficial trend. America must be one of them.